"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

Going back to 2007, at least, I’ve borne a grudge against Mike Huckabee. When the “Fredhead” phenomenon collapsed — when Fred Thompson proved to be a far weaker presidential candidate than we had hoped — the question became, “Who can stop John McCain?”

No conservative wanted McCain to get the nomination, but Republicans were horribly confused and divided in their search for an alternative.

Some people wanted Rudy Giuliani, but anyone with a lick of common sense could see that Rudy’s pro-choice position made him unacceptable: You can’t beat a “Maverick” with a liberal warhawk, OK? Mitt Romney thus became the consensus alternative — except for the Hucktards, who ruined everything and made possible McCain’s nomination.

Ann Coulter summed up the problem: Mike Huckabee is a pro-life Democrat. Whatever his merits as a Baptist preacher, or even a Fox News host, Huckabee is a wretched excuse for a Republican politician.

His presidential campaign organization included some of the least competent staffers ever employed in American politics. Ask anyone who worked on GOP campaigns in the 2010 cycle: Huck’s endorsement was quite nearly worthless, and the involvement of former Huckabee staffers was usually an omen of impending doom.

Are we in the least bit surprised to see the shadow of this familiar Arkansas albatross circling a certain doomstruck Missouri Republican?

Dear God, why have you done this to us? What dreaded sin has America committed that you would have inflicted this damned fool on us? Why now, at such a crucial moment in our history? I’m driving to Tampa tomorrow. We’ll let Deroy Murdock have the last word for now:

Does Akin want to be the man whom history will recall as guaranteeing McCaskill’s reelection, possibly keeping the U.S. Senate in the hands of hardened liberal Democrat, Harry Reid?
Does Akin hope to be known in perpetuity as the cause of Barack Obama’s reelection, notwithstanding the multifarious merits of the Romney-Ryan ticket?

See what I mean? Huckabee has an uncanny instinct for backing losers. It’s not a matter of ideology or grassroots, it’s just bad political judgment, and I share Allahpundit’s sense of exasperation:

Why are heavy hitters like [Tony Perkins] and Huckabee ready to fight and die on Magic Uterus Hill when there’s overwhelming bipartisan disgust at Akin for what he said?

My answer: Because we have been cursed by God, that’s why. The Almighty has determined to destroy America, Todd Akin is the weapon by which he means to accomplish this destruction, and Perkins and Huckabee are just following the Divine Command.

Comments

MunDane68

My Grandfather, who got his original job at 15 by bulls**tting a Ford car dealer that he knew engines, and managed to parlay that into working with Pratt and Whitney as a mechanic in the 1940’s. Nevertheless, he always drove Fords. Even when the brand made the Pinto, the bloated Thunderbird and so on. He believed in Fords.

Huckabee is like that. Loyal. But loyalty has its downside when you are being loyal to something that is, inherently, flawed. Huckabee would be better served saying, “Todd, you blew it. That’s politics. You should have known something was up when your opponent was paying for adds that portrayed you in a positive light, but you tried to make a go of it. Even if you pull off the greatest underdog upset since David slew Goliath, and that is so ridiculously unlikely, I am mentally giggling as i say this, you are too toxic to do anything IN the Senate, let alone lead anything.”

I do not disagree about the behind the scene stuff (my Godfather post, albeit not the most “pro life”, was a play on exactly that happening). Akin should have been pressured to resign privately. The public pressure was not helpful, but I know it was in part driven by the deadline to withdraw voluntarily. And some Republicans over reacted. That said, I disagree with Jeff over the impact of what Akin said. It was bad the moment Akin said it. The GOP reaction could have been better. Then again, Akin could have done us all a favor (including the pro life movement) and dropped out.

So now it is up to Akin: He can lose to McCaskill, win this thing, or try to get out and pass the baton to one of the other Republicans (possible but harder now the deadline is past).

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Republicans would have been far smarter to have avoided public remarks from the start. As it is, they’ve taken a gaffe and gift wrapped it for Dem usage. I thought at least some of us were wiser than that.

http://qwertyaltofuori.blogspot.com Red

The Almighty isn’t determined to destroy America. He’s just giving us enough of that rope called, “autonomy”. It’s up to us to exorcise the stupid.

http://twitter.com/RangerSG Shawn Gillogly

I can agree with some of this. There could’ve been public outcry against him, with then a reminder of just what Claire Tax-cheat, Obama Spear-Carrier McCaskill is, while privately urging Akin to switch back to his House seat.

Heck, if Biden can get away with plagiarizing entire speeches to become VP, there’s no reason Akin couldn’t have survived as a bomb-throwing Representative. Even with an R by his name.

That said, Huckabee is a grotesque. He doesn’t represent SoCons. He’s not even a terribly good Christian Conservative. He’s a preacher turned pol, who became a R because Arkansas turned red before he could run according to his heart’s convictions. I will say this “Big Government Conservative” kick plays well in this part of the country, for whatever reason. Yes, I’m looking at you, Roy Blunt.

http://www.leftbankofthecharles.com/ Charles

Look, the damage to Romney-Ryan is done, whether Todd Akin drops out or not. The price for taking prolife support is that all Republicans get tarred with the same brush when a prolife candidate says something stupid.

As far as winning the U.S. Senate in Missouri, write it off. Of course Mr. Stupid Stubborn is too stupid and stubborn to drop out. How do you think he got into this mess?

The real reason Akin should drop out is not that he made a mistake, but that he made a mistake that betrays his purported prolife principles. Akin got himself nominated by being McCaskill’s stooge in the primary. What demand on party loyalty is there in that?

Nonetheless, if it’s a given that Akin won’t stand aside, he may have the only realistic chance to beat McCaskill. If Mike Huckabee wants to camapign for him, that at least might keep old Huck out of other trouble. Just knock off the whining.

http://wizbangblog.com/ Adjoran

Well, if Mike Huckabee has access to millions of dollars of campaign funds he can shift to or raise for Akin, maybe it means something. Otherwise, it is meaningless. Akin’s evangelical base was already the only ones sticking with him.

If the guy is going to stay in the race without funding and with Romney and Rush both telling him to take a hike, Huckabee’s endorsement is again without effect. But he has time to see the handwriting on the wall and get out.

Even if he doesn’t, we have many other seats we could pick up and still control the Senate – especially since if Romney wins, Ryan becomes President of the Senate and we only need 50 seats. In fact, our chances are still good, it’s just that this was in the bag and now isn’t.

And it isn’t at all clear that he can’t win. Yeah, it looks bad now after five days of 24/7 condemnation. But McCaskill is still Obama’s little whore. She isn’t any more popular, and there are more than two months to let the memory slide.

But to those who want to hang themselves over it, that’s up to you. Just do it, though, and quit with the freaking whining.

MM

Huckabee, in my view, is not “loyal” to anyone, but to himself. During 2008, what really turned me off to him was his pettiness and palpable ENVY of Romney, who outshines him in every way: looks, wealth, class, accomplishment. I have also detected this envy and disdain in him when it comes to Palin.
As for where we go from here – I am reminded of what Stacy said at the start of his Kimberlin imbroglio – never doubt that God answers prayers. The way I see it now, is that if the Dems want to have a conversation about a war on women and abortion, let’s have it:
– Clinton, accused rapist with a 40-year history of abusing women, is nominating Obama. REALLY, dudes? Juanita Broaderrick – was that “rape rape”?
– Almost 800,000 more women are now unemployed during the Obama economy
– Obama pays his female White House staffers 18% LESS on average than his male staffers
– former WH Communications Director Anita Dunn says that the Obama WH “fit all of the classic legal requirements for a genuinely hostile workplace to women.”
– Obama supports abortion in the ninth month of pregnancy, something over 80% of Americans oppose
– Obama does not believe in parental notification of minors seeking abortions. So, if your daughter was raped and seeks an abortion, you will never know.
– Obama opposed, THREE times, a bill that would allow doctors to give life-saving measures to children born alive during botched abortions
– Obama believes a baby is “punishment.”
Anyone else have some zingers?

http://twitter.com/21LambChop LambChop

Huckleberry’s fellow Democrats have splashed the newsmedia with photos of Romney,Ryan & Akin together with cute captions like “Ryan Redefines Rape”. Fantastic. While Akin basks in the light of his Christian superiority, surround by the comforting halo given to him by Mike Huckabee, Christians are being crucified in Egypt and a 12 -yr -old mentally challenged child is held in Pakistan. All ith the tacit agreement of our “multi-cultural” President. We cannot afford another 4 years of this crap. Akin is a liability.

I agree with Goldstein – by overreacting that way, it was gift to the libs – they know that Republicans will run scared on abortion and rape. Expect every question to Romney and Ryan until November 6 to include those words.

But that being said, he has compounded his error by making himself immensely unlikeable – if Republicans think he is haughty and foolish, well, imagine what the people who aren’t already on his side must think.

-I’m very disappointed in many of my fellow conservatives and agree with Jeff Goldstein and Smitty on this.
-Bob’s Version Of Stacy’s Cry To God: Dear God, why have you done this to us? What dreaded sin has America committed that you would have inflicted this damned fool on those of us who think Rep. Akin was treated badly by his own kind? Hucksterbee is not someone I want with me when I try to take the hill I’ll probably die on.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Dead solid perfect.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Great list.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

He’s only a liability because of the Hysterics on the Right that has aided the Left in controlling this narrative.

Coulter76

Akin and Huckabee, these are your people Stacey and Smitty. And don’t forget Santorum, he wanted to make birth control among married Protestants a major theme of his campaign. These people don’t give a damn about real issues, they just want to pontificate about personal morality.

SoCon idiocy is what’s killing the Republican Party. And don’t give me this nonsense that conservatives can’t win without the extremists. Nixon won 49 states as a pro-choice Republican.

Huckabee is so 2008, and he has begun putting weight on again. Just an observation.

http://alanye.com/ Dai Alanye

Two points which ought to be clear as crystal:
1. Private persuasion would have been more effective than public outcry when attempting to get Akin to resign.
2. Now that he’s in to stay we should want him to win rather than McCaskill, since control of the Senate is all-important. Thus, more whining can do nothing but harm.

I don’t see why any realistic conservative or Republican would disagree with this.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Spot-on.

dad29

Agreed.

Romney is Barbara Bush with better hair regarding his “pro-life” stance. He’s a GHWBush with MORE hair regarding his “Big Gummint” stance. (So is Ryan, by the way).

And Priebus (et al) who decided to pull their support of Akin forgot only one little detail: what is Plan B? Because it seems that they don’t have one.

So rather than constructing a cogent defense of Akin’s position, combined with a cogent smackdown of that ‘repels rape-seed’ inanity, the Pubbies have decided to shrug off more dead babies and kill off the licit nominee.

Sobran was right: their name is “the Stupid Party.”

http://wizbangblog.com/ Adjoran

Blame everyone except the idiot who caused the problem – sounds like the Obama plan.

Akin had made at least four howlingly stupid remarks in the last two weeks, and his first commercial after winning the primary made no sense at all. He’s known for gaffes and saying outrageously stupid things, which is why McCaskill spent over $1 million on ads attacking him as “too conservative” during our primary to fool the gullible into voting FOR Bozo.

His sort of stupidity can survive a long time in a safe congressional district – see the Congress for examples – but Senate candidates need to be less overtly stupid until elected.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

Exactly. I’ve been hitting back at the “real conservatives” who keep trying to tell us all about Paul Ryan’s supposed “beltway, elitist GOP” membership, and that he’s way worse than Romney.

I tell them, Save that crap till after the election. The primary is over, and Akin is just the nasty bit of plaster that fell to the stage from the badly-maintained ceiling after the final curtain.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

Bell? Check.
Book? Check.
Candle? Check.

What else do we need?

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

Now that it’s too late to “do” anything about Akin, I’m willing to soldier on as best we can. Maybe we can drag him over the finish line. But after the week of high-level calls to withdraw, no national powerhouse conservative will have any impact on his chances of winning. It’s up to him and Missourians, now.

I ain’t holding my breath. I think he’s toast. But we have work to do.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

If he were the King, sure. He’s merely a stepping stone level courtesan in this overall contest, but one who p*ssed in the punchbowl. He should have stepped down.

Now it’s apparently too late. So like a boil on an very uncomfortable spot, we’re stuck with him. Time to go nuclear on the Dem war on women.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

If you heard Levin’s rant the other night, you might be surprised. Running scared is the opposite of what should happen. Rubbing their faces in the fact of the impeached, sexual predator that’s going to speak at their convention is only the start of how to push back.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

“Todd Akin is the weapon by which he means to accomplish this destruction…”

Don’t look at me, my mind was perfectly blank.

Quartermaster

Methinks you suffer from a rather severe case of political myopia and ignorance.

Quartermaster

The point about the Policemen should be well taken. The rest is simple minded idiocy as his criticism of the immorality of Natalie Portman should also be well taken. But, given the tone of your post, I seriously doubt you have any understanding of what such behavior, when common place, means to a society in the long run.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

Oh, there’s no doubt about it.

SDN

You are quite simply full of shit. Nixon didn’t get asked about Roe v Wade because “Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113 (1973)” wasn’t decided until AFTER his election in 1972…. and that decision is what made abortion a political issue.

http://boogieforward.us/ K-Bob

Come on people! Ghostbusters.

http://thecampofthesaints.org Bob Belvedere

The thing that is really pissing the Hell out of me, K-Bob, is the incessant whining of those conservatives who DEMANDED he withdraw RIGHT THIS SECOND!!!!!!!!!.

You’re attitude is the opposite and I wish
they would emulate you.

http://www.orrinjohnson.com/ Orrin

One more reason for Akin to quit – just think of the damage he does if he actually pulls out a win. He already knows the whole party is against him, and relishes it – what makes him think he can accomplish anything as a single Senator the other 99 think is a semi-sane joke? He will remain radioactive and repulsive amongst his colleagues, even (especially) Republicans. If he sponsors a bill, no one else will want their name associated with it, no matter how good the policy might be. He will embarrass us regularly with all sorts of new “theories” or “misstatements.” He will be THE face of “Republicans” and “The Tea Party” for years to come in the MSM and in popular culture. He will prevent hundreds of thousands of otherwise persuadable new voters NOT to vote or register GOP (guys like him were why I thought I was a Democrat back in high school).

I’m a Nevadan. We saw how this show ends when they played it here in 2010.

http://qwertyaltofuori.blogspot.com Red

Going old school with this I see. Guess it’s going to take more than casting votes this November. We’ll be doing a different type of ‘casting’ Don’t forget the salt.